Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America. Edited by Paul Finkelman. 4 vols. 2,100 pgs. Dallas, TX: The Schlager Group, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-97997758-0-2. $385.

Over the past decade, there has been increasing emphasis on using primary source documents with secondary level students. Primary source documents provide an opportunity to view history through fresh, critical eyes. In short, students practice the skill set employed by actual historians. One difficulty teachers often have incorporating such sources into their curriculum lies with the complexity of the original documents. Students often lack the contextual information that may help in their comprehension of a source. This four volume set was constructed with such an audience in mind. Each of the 133 full-text primary source documents in the collection, representing some of the most important events in American history from 1763 to 2003, is introduced and analyzed in a consistent format that will be helpful to students and teachers alike. A brief overview of the document and a timeline precede a more detailed context section, which outlines the historical, political and social events leading up to and surrounding the creation of the primary source. Biographical information on the author helps shed light on the perspectives offered in the source. An explanation and analysis section provides a deeper look at the text; the intended audience is also described, providing additional information about the purpose of the document and the choice of language and rhetoric used. The impact section places the document in the context of broader American history, often providing examples of older documents’ influence on American life today. Each chapter concludes with a list of related documents, a bibliography, questions for further study, a list of essential quotes and a glossary of key terms, followed by the full-text primary source document itself, offset with a graphic border. Documents include the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s speech after the attack of Pearl Harbor, John F. Kennedy’s civil rights address, Nixon’s Watergate tape and George W. Bush’s address on September 11, 2001. Court cases involving minority rights are widely represented; speeches and documents related to prominent civil rights causes, including abolishment of slavery, protection of Native American rights, women’s suffrage and the civil rights efforts of the 1950s and 1960s are also featured. The set opens with a thoughtful discussion about teaching with primary source documents, followed by activity guides corresponding to the national history standards published by the National Center for History in the Schools. Purchase of this set includes online access to Salem Press’s Salem History through 2011. The Web site includes all the content from Milestone Documents in American History, affording opportunities for many students to work with this resource at the same time. Highly recommended for high school and academic libraries.
—Doug Achterman